The biography of my graNdfather Peter M.

C
Chan

By Justin Chan
 Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Early life

Chapter 2: Set Sail to Ireland
Chapter 3: Coming back
Intervewee:
My grandpa, Peter M.C Chan

Chapter 1: Early Life Word Count: 333

Peter Chan was born on August 7th, 1935 in the island of Gulangyu, near the city
of Xiamen, the largest city in Fujian Province, China. This is also the area where many
of the Overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia came from. Gulangyu is well known in
China for its beauty, and is still a major tourist attraction today. He had 3 brothers
and 4 sisters, and they all grew up in a large house, built from the money sent from
my great, great grandfather who owned a cattle
ranch in the Philippines at the time.. The house still
stands today, and owned by our extended family.

He had fond memories of playing football on the

back alleys of the house. He also loved to shoot
marbles with his brothers and friends. He was a
good and popular student at the primary school on
the island, the school still stands today.

The happy times ended when the Imperial Japanese

Army launched the full scale invasion of China. Xiamen was occupied in 1938, and
Gulangyu, being an international settlement, was invaded in December 1941, the same
time Pearl Harbor was bombed and most of SouthEast Asia, including Hong Kong was
attacked. Food became scarce during this reign of terror. My grandfather remembers
lining up on the street before dawn to buy some tofu. He was forced to learn
Japanese at school and had to bow every time he saw a Japanese soldier. The island
was liberated around August 1945, and life slowly returned to normal. The family
owned an ice cream parlor on the main street of the island. However, after the
Chinese Civil War ended, the family had to leave everything behind and migrate due to
their association with the previous government. They landed in Hong Kong in 1950.
Life was very tough at the time.. Hong Kong was desperately poor and full of
refugees. The family crammed into a tiny flat in Wan Chai. Daily life was a struggle,
and to make matters worse, they did not speak a word of Cantonese or English.

Chapter 2: Set Sail to Ireland! Word Count: 317

Life in Hong Kong eventually got better. My grandfather studied hard and as a
result, was accepted to Wah Yan College, a prestigious local Catholic secondary school.
He did well academically, and was later referred by the schools Jesuit Priests, which
were mainly Irish at the time, to further his studies in Ireland.

In 1953, my grandfather boarded a ship and set sail for England. The ship made
many ports of call, including Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Bombay, Aden, the Suez
Canal, Alexandria, and Gibraltar, before reaching London. It took 2 months and gave
him an opportunity to see the world.

He settled in a town called Limerick in Ireland, to finish his secondary school

studies. One of the funniest memories he had was during his time at school. It was a
bright sunny day and he went hiking with his friends. They started to walk up the
mountain when he suddenly turned around and found a group of young kids gathered
behind him. The kids were pointing at him, saying that he was Japanese. This was
because they had never seen an Asian in real life. The closest thing they have seen
was the Japanese in war movies, so they thought Peter was Japanese!. During the
summer, he worked in the potato fields to earn money. To be accepted into university,
every student needed to know a second language, unfortunately Chinese did not count
at the time. He decided to learn Latin, and spent his 3 week Christmas Holiday
cramming, and passed the exam. He moved to Dublin for University, and graduated
from the Royal College of Surgeons, at the top of his class. (He was invited back in
1979 to receive an honorary fellowship) He stayed on for his medical residency. All
in all, he spend 13 happy years in Ireland. He has very fond memories of his time in
Ireland and really liked the people.

Chapter 3 : Coming Back Word Count: 331

He eventually left for Hong Kong in 1967, as requested by his parents, who have
not seen him in 13 long years. On the way back, he took a ship to New York, and then
the Greyhound bus across the U.S to San Francisco, where he boarded a ship that
took him to Honolulu, Tokyo, Taipei, and then finally Hong Kong When he arrived, he
had a difficult time adjusting to life in the city, having been away for so long.
He started work at Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon soon after. One year later,
he got married to grandma and my father was born the following year. He would go
on to have 2
more
children.
In 1973, he
left the
government
hospital
system and
started his
own clinic in Causeway Bay. My grandfather
had a big medical briefcase that he carried home every night, as he sometimes had to
make house calls late at night.

My grandfather enjoyed food and travel. The family ate out often, and took vacations
at least once a year, they went to the Philippines, U.S. , Canada, Europe, and South
East Asia.

He is most proud that his children completed their undergraduate and graduate
degrees from University, and have led independent and productive lives.
My grandfather worked in his clinic until he was 80 years old. He closed it down 2
years ago but has still remained active. He has been working part time as a physician
for a medical group as he does not believe in retirement. He also attends seminars
regularly to learn about the latest medical breakthroughs. Staying active and engaged
has enabled him to be mentally and physically healthy.

His greatest pleasure nowadays is to see his lovely grandchildren. He enjoys playing
with us and buying us toys. He also loves to go for a drink with his old buddies from
abroad. Finally, as advanced in his age as he is, he is still practicing medicine today
and has a good sense of humor.